VIDEO: Dismay over LLWS strike zones reaches a crescendo

Umpires aren’t robots (yet), and umpires at the Little League World Series are volunteers, so variance in their strike zones is to be expected. Still, as has become an annual pastime, exasperation over home plate inconsistency at the Little League World Series has reached a fever pitch. This year it took five days.

First, let’s take a look at the chronology? The games in Williamsport started Aug. 16. Within a day, there were social media gripes about the strike zone:

1) Three of the five most glaring complaints (depicted here) involved games on the international side of the bracket. That’s instructive only if it indicates that Little League is pushing less experienced or qualified umpires onto the international games. That seems unlikely, but you never know.

2) Two of the five poorly-called strikes came from the same game. Maybe Hughes was just having a bad day.

Still, these are supposed to be the crème de la crème of non-professional umpires, and they’re working a nationally televised event featuring the best players from regions and, in many cases, multiple countries. If ever there was a situation where athletes deserved consistency in both performance and expectations, this would be it.

Perhaps it’s understandable, then, that social media has been a bit fired up about some of the missed strike calls in recent days. Here’s a brief sample:

This ump behind the plate for the Canada vs. Mexico game is absolutely brutal. Strike zone the size of an envelope! #LLWS#Canada

This ump in the Panama/Puerto Rico #LLWS is horrible. Not sure he knows what a strike and ball is. Possibly the worst umpire ive seen ever. Who is this idiot bc he’s ruining the game. #Panama#PuertoRico#Umpire

The moral of the story? Yes, the home plate umpiring at the Little League World Series — again, performed entirely by volunteers — has been inconsistent, and sometimes outright poor. Still, everyone deserves a break once in awhile, particularly grown men who volunteer and wear heavy equipment in brutal heat and humidity to allow kids to play a game in a setting of their dreams.